


Hero or villain?

by Bakurakrazie



Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-07
Updated: 2020-05-07
Packaged: 2021-03-03 01:00:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,326
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24056356
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bakurakrazie/pseuds/Bakurakrazie
Summary: Roman's got a lot to think about after their post-wedding discussion.
Comments: 4
Kudos: 9





	Hero or villain?

**Author's Note:**

> Warnings: Spoilers for SvS Redux, lots of talk of Deceit. A lot of introspective angst with no comfort, until we get the next episode, I guess?
> 
> All the other characters are mentioned, but I didn't tag them. 
> 
> Let me start off by saying that this is not meant to imply that Roman's going dark. And for the record, I don't think there was any character that was unsympathetic in the episode, I think they were all balanced really well.

Virgil used to be the villain, now he's not. It was a big hurdle for Roman to overcome, but he'd seen his error, and changed. Deceit, however, was clearly always villainous, even moreso because he had use Roman in the courtroom, and it was even worse because he hadn't had to use that many tactics to get Roman on his side in the first place. 

But, Deceit's not the villain anymore. Even though this is what they'd always held. Patton is siding with him, so, he was fine now? But Roman was still a tool for him, and the decision that Thomas came to was still the right one, even though Roman maybe still kind of felt like he _had_ to make that choice even though he desperately wanted to go to the callback. But going to the callback was bad before. Maybe now it would have been the right choice, not that they'll ever find out now, because _Roman_ is the one that confirmed going to the wedding. And they'd seemed happy at the time, even when, earlier, they'd all felt depressed and annoyed. Even so, Roman had still held fast by his decision, because that's what Patton had decided was right, and even when Patton was confused, Roman had argued for him. Sure, he'd- he'd brought up a point or two, but he hadn't said that he was wrong! 

After all, he was Morality. Even if he was Patton now, he was still their Morality, he knew what was right and wrong, even when… even when he didn't know what was right and wrong. He'd been so confused. But that was clearly Deceit's fault! He'd done that in the courtroom, too! Questioning everything they knew. Twisting their words like he'd twisted Roman's 'sick relative' argument into him claiming he'd wanted to tell Lee and Mary Lee that they actually _had_ a sick relative! Charming them with his serpent's tongue like he had Roman. Flattering them. Just like when Patton just gave up, which Roman never thought he'd see. Just like when he'd had the _gall_ to try the same with Patton. 

And they'd all fallen for it. He'd made a few points that had been wrong when Roman had agreed with them last time, turning them to him with silky words, but Roman hadn't caved! He made sure he'd never agree with him again after the courtroom, after the _theater_ \- but he'd complimented Patton just like he'd always complimented Roman. And he'd finally, _finally_ been able to see through it, finally realized he wasn't being kind, that he probably ever hadn't been, that he was setting them up merely to cut them down, and he'd called him on it, and it had felt right! Felt just! 

But he didn't know what was right or wrong anymore, did he? 

He'd claimed to not be lying, but that was also a lie! But Thomas and Patton had believed him, and okay, mental health was important, of course it was, he'd never want to harm his host, but he couldn't let the villain win! And Logan had popped up a final time and Roman had untensed just that little bit. Because he was right, of course he was right, and he wasn't disagreeing with Deceit, but Roman had felt like he was on his side, and then he left before Roman could say anything. And then Deceit had struck. 

And surely even if they hadn't seen through his compliments towards Patton, they could have seen through him praising his decision in court. But they didn't. Not even when he did the very thing that he'd said he'd do, cutting him down, felling him like an elm, _'served no one, net loss.'_

But it hadn't been for nothing! It had been for the sake of their friends! For Lee and for Mary Lee and for making them happy by seeing that he'd been there for them. That he hadn't abandoned them for other reasons, for reasons he'd learned were _selfish-_

And he'd snapped. Because Roman- because Thomas wasn't selfish! He couldn't be! Not with Patton leading the way and not with Roman backing him up and he'd backed him up so much, because regardless of his individual thoughts, he wholeheartedly believed in Patton's ability to separate what was good, so when Patton said that the wedding was the right choice, Roman had known what to do. And Deceit drilled into his choice, poking holes through, which was intolerable enough, but now he was telling them that everything else that they knew was backwards and upside down and wrong. And he'd almost had them, but Roman realized his overarching plan. And he'd snapped, and confronted him, and argued that his views weren't right, because good was good! And he'd never let them put out good if it didn't serve some ulterior motive! 

And Patton and Thomas had still been so influenced by his tricks that they'd actually said that he deserved to be an influence on Thomas. But Roman hadn't believed him, and then, and then…

He'd been so prepared for him to lie, to say anything to garner trust in something false, that he'd immediately jumped on the opportunity when he'd claimed his name to be Janice. Which was obviously a lie! And while the line about his brother had hurt (not quite for the reason anyone had probably thought), it hadn't hurt nearly as much as the expressions on Thomas's and Patton's faces. They hadn't stood up to Deceit, even then. They hadn't stood up _for_ Roman, even then. 

Did that mean they agreed with him? That they'd turned to Deceit's side? Deceit was the liar, the manipulator! Roman was the Prince, the Knight, the Hero! _Thomas's_ hero! Wasn't… wasn't he still his hero? But people were supposed to support the hero. And they, Patton and Thomas who were so good, supposed to be so good, still _were_ good, maybe it was just him, they supported Deceit. And he'd nodded, like he knew the torch had been passed. Maybe it had been passed for a while now and he'd just never noticed. 

Nothing was okay. They loved him? Ha. Maybe. But that didn't mean they thought well of him. 

Maybe he'd stopped being the hero since his sentencing. None of this would be happening if he hadn't made that decision. They hadn't yielded to Deceit then. But he'd proven himself to be right today, hadn't he? And if he was right, Roman was wrong. That meant that, maybe he _was_ the evil twin. After all, they'd met his brother. They could compare. He'd shared his name. He was probably accepted now, too. Maybe he was the good twin. He aligned with Deceit, and Roman was his foe. They were good, and Roman was bad. Evil. The villain. 

He wished, well, a lot of things right now, but maybe Logan had a more objective view on things. But there was no way he'd do that. He'd heard him, claiming that they didn't want to hear from him. And Roman hadn't said anything, had quieted him earlier. _Bad._

Virgil hadn't been out much since Thomas had had the nightmares. He'd caught bits and pieces of what had happened, but he didn't really know what was going on. He'd mostly cooped up in his room, not socializing, barely coming out, and skittering away when he was. Maybe...no. He certainly wouldn't want to help Roman now. Look at all the stress he'd put Thomas through. Plus, he'd laughed at Deceit's name reveal. He's sure that wouldn't earn him any sympathy with Virgil, especially after he'd done the same thing at his. _Evil._

He'd just have to lay here alone, and try to accept his new version of himself that he'd created. Give up his old title, his old role, and know his new one. If he wasn't the hero anymore, that could only mean that he was now the _villain._

**Author's Note:**

> Bonus: And villains stole. The next time they had a movie night, he was stealing Deceit's hat. 
> 
> Ahhhhh, I hate this, just take it! It started out as a stream of consciousness sort of analysis of Roman's last few bit of on-screen time and it didn't stop and have an unedited pile of unhappiness. Also featuring: Roman isn't going to use Janice, so I have no reason to practice Janus's name, I'm never going to get used to this.


End file.
